The Defiant comes in cheaper than my usual price point, however for its inclusions and sound you’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s more expensive than it is.
Let’s get into it!
Build & Accessories:
The Defiant arrived in a really nice box. The packaging includes the IEMs (surprise), a modular cable with both 3.5mm and 4.4mm terminations, a selection of ear tips, and a carrying case. The cable is particularly nice—it’s a 6N SPOCC + SCCW cable, no issues at all with its sound, it feels great, and the interchangeable termination is held together with a screw (thank you!). For this price point the cable is more than you would expect and lifts the standard up. Great job.
The shells look really nice, there are two different types (green and rainbow), I went with the rainbow one however they both look great from what I’ve seen on the other one, the rainbow probably goes better with the packed in cable for me.
The tip selection is decent, two different silicone ones and one set of foams. As a rarity the medium tips that were preinstalled on the IEM fit my ears perfectly and I used them for the duration as I had no issues. This will absolutely vary by person, however thought I’d mention it as that pretty much never happens for me.
The Defiant features a hybrid driver configuration: 1 DD and 3 BAs, brought together by a 3-way crossover with 4 acoustic tubes.
Listening setup:
I tried this out with a few different setups, the main stay this week was from my LP W4 dongle but also listened across the LP P6 Pro 10ae silver, and the Sony WM1ZM2. It scaled fairly well across the sources and enjoyed it out of all of them. For music I listened across all genres, some mainstays were King Gizzard, Taylor Swift, and Cat Stevens for this review period.
Sound
Bass:
The bass is impactful and well-controlled. The sub-bass extends deep, providing a satisfying rumble when called for with great texture. The mid bass is also good, doesn’t bleed into the mids, and pretty much around the amount that I like. I really enjoyed the bass with King Gizzard on these; I listened to one of their many live bootlegs on this IEM and it presented the feeling of their live shows admirably.
Mids:
The midrange is clear and natural, maybe a touch further back in the mix than I generally like (lower mids). Vocals, both male and female, are good to great depending on the artist and track. They have decent weight to them, on some IEMs vocals can standalone, here they don’t have a clear edge around them, still nice and easy to listen to, but they’re part of the music. Instruments also sound great, again, not as clearly defined as you’d get on more technical sets but very musical. They wouldn’t be my choice for a technical set, where you want to focus in on a single part of a track, but they present everything really well and make you just want to sit back and listen to the music.
Treble:
Smooth, a little dark sounding overall. Leans into the musical sound I mentioned above. The defiant isn’t here to wow you with detail, it’s here to get you into a groove with your music and keep you there. Treble lovers won’t find what they’re after here, everyone else will find enough air to get into a groove and just enjoy their music.
Technical Performance
Soundstage:
I found it to be quite good, it extends horizontally as the music calls for, depth was decent.
Imaging:
Imaging is interesting, I wouldn’t say it isn’t accurate, but it’s more a generalised region for instruments. It builds layers up in its presentation if you explore the sound and pay attention. Listening to Magma by King Gizzard, if I close my eyes I can easily place the percussion behind the guitars on my left ear, the drums back in the mix behind the bass that’s happening in front of me. But if I figuratively move my perception back you’re left with a very musical presentation, with the underlying groove of the music making you bop your head along.
Detail:
I’ve talked about it a bit, this isn’t an overly technical set. I think it’s the right amount for what they’re going for. If you want all of the micro detail this isn’t the set for you.
Subjective:
This is a somewhat dark and musical set. In the (somewhat) objective parts above I’ve tried to call that out and the possible downsides of such a tuning, but I actually really like dark and musical sets. They get me into the groove of music and make me forget about the world. The Defiant does this admirably and I really enjoyed my time with it. Musical can come across as a negative word sometimes, but I mean it in the best way possible for the Defiant. As someone who often finds it hard to relax the Defiant helped me do that with how it presented the music I was listening to, and that’s one of the best comments I could ever give to a set.
Overall:
The Defiant is a standout in the sub-$100 IEM market for this tuning. It offers a compelling combination of engaging sound, solid build quality, and a great cable. While it isn’t the right set for someone who wants an extremely technical set it delivers a musical, fun and immersive listening experience that’s hard to beat at this price point. My go-to musical set before this is around the 300usd mark, I won’t mention it by name however the Defiant delivers essentially the same experience at a third of the price. A great set and an easy recommendation for anyone looking the presentation I’ve described here.
Scorecard:
| Category | Score (/5) | Notes |
| Bass | 4.5 | Sub bass is great, mid bass good. Really enjoyed it with rock. |
| Mids | 4.0 | A little too far back in the mix sometimes, but a nice presentation. Vocals are good. |
| Treble | 3.8 | Smooth and dark. Not for everyone, but works for this set. |
| Soundstage | 4.5 | Well done, extends horizontally in what I’d call a natural/realistic way. Depth is OK. |
| Imaging | 4.0 | Does layering well and works for what they’re going for. |
| Build & Fit | 5.0 | Comfortable design, really nice cable. |
| Value | 5.0 | Beautiful looking set, great accessories, and a tuning I love. Hard to beat at 100usd |
Overall Rating at $99.99: 4.5 / 5
Aussie Audiophile 
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